Driving Miss Daisy

Best picture??? Bad choice; shouldn't even have been nominated. How about My Left Foot, Field of Dreams, Glory? This so called relationship film is Tandy's being ultra-cranky and Freeman shucking and saying, "Yes'm." This goes on for decades!!!! The viewer gets more out of Freeman and Akroyd's relationship. Further, the movie skips through time like a rock skipping across water. Never staying long enough for us to grow along with the relationship. Only once, when Freeman confronts Tandy about having to go to the bathroom is their an actual face-to-face discussion of an issue and even then we are then whisked off with out any satisfaction of resolution. The soundtrack will kill you too, very dated. Zimmer at his worst.

Maybe 'the Shawshank Redemption' (1994) (qv) is a bigger, better, more brazen film, with far more pretensions, and is, of course, an excellent film: but I cannot avoid thinking that it is in 'Driving Miss Daisy' that Morgan Freeman develops his best rôle, playing so well opposite the unrepeatable Jessica Landry. I have not seen all of Freeman's films, nor do I wish to. Of those I have seen he is more or less 'O.K.' as you might say; What makes 'Driving Miss Daisy' work is the human and humane compassion and sympathy flowing between the two lead actors, with Dan Ackroyd, surprisingly, and Esther Rolle both lending a good hand. One might argue that it is 'only' an oversweetened sentimental story; be that as it may, the film endeavours to portray the aging relationship between the white Jewish rich woman and her poor black chauffeur throughout 25 years. And Jessica Landry was over eighty years old when she made this film. In this aspect, evidently the film succeeds, as the story itself is really of secondary importance: it is the beautifully filmed scenes and the dialogues which build up to something greater than the story per se. In an age dominated by cinema stuffed with violence, sex, special effects and so on, here is an example without such measures, relying on pure acting and interpretative skills so as to tell a clean simple story. You might well like to compare this film with Lindsay Anderson's 'The Whales of August' (1987) (qv), with an absolutely unrepeatable cast with Lillian Gish, Bette Davis, Vincent Price and Ann Sothern: a delicious retrospective piece. 'Driving Miss Daisy' was meticulously made, with all those cars of the 50's and 60's and the careful scene settings, brought out by excellent photography, and all backed up by what must be Hans Zimmer's most appropriate and touching score. His score was also good in that tremendous film 'Thelma and Louise' as well as in 'The House of the Spirits' and 'Beyond Rangoon' (1995) (qv). 'Driving Miss Daisy' is one of those videos in my collection which I am pleased to blow the dust off and watch yet again: it is still as charming as ever.

After watching this film for the second time I realized just how important the affection that occurs between Hoke and Daisy really is. What grows between these two is something most people only wish to have in their lives. What is so special about it, though? From the beginning of their relationship, the two are forced to be together. Daisy is forced to have a driver and Hoke is hired on for that position. For both, the relationship is one out of need. Hoke needs a paying job and Daisy needs a driver in her old age (although, she would never admit it to anyone especially herself). As time goes by, though, Daisy's need of Hoke becomes clearer to herself. She begins to depend on him. This is definitely made clear at the end when Hoke is feeding Daisy her pumpkin pie, and she enjoys each bite fully. Another aspect of the movie which got to me was the great array of choices the director made with the filming. Hoke is a character of very few words but teaches Daisy so much. Morgan Freeman's acting in this character is amazing. The knowledge he shows within his eyes is one reason I almost felt closer to him than Daisy did throughout the first half of the movie. In a way, he teaches her a new way of life. He does so by showing himself truly and honestly. Another choice the director made was in the symbolic way the film was made. The beauty of the many seasons is shown through the changes of the landscape. The trees transform from winter to spring and the streets go from sheets of ice to warm asphalt. And the cars get larger and more high tech. Time is so important in Daisy's and Hoke's affection/friendship that this is a great way to show that. There are so many aspects of this film which I could go on and on about. It is a wonderful film of which any person can get a fulfilling movie watching experience out of. They can also learn a lot from it, too! Watch it.

I first saw this film when I was a child, and I remember I found it tedious. That was to be expected. I recently watched it again, and this time the reaction was not one of boredom. Just irritation and exasperation. The titular character is absolutely horrible. She is just a spoiled rich woman, oblivious of the people around her. Hoke is nothing more than a stereotypical representation of the subservient African American of that period. It's really awful and just made me very frustrated with all the characters; Daisy an obnoxious, rude, spoilt ungrateful old cow. Booley, a stereotyped southern guy, who is 'kind' t to coloured people. I just wanted him to lose his temper with his horrible mother and put her in her place, or at least make the old bint think of someone other than herself. Instead he just whines 'Mama!' Ardella might as well have been written as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. The whole story was pointless and ultimately misleading - the whole they learn from each other aspect rings hollow. She remains the obnoxious rude woman until the end, although he delicately challenges her in the way a child might challenge a domineering mother. That is not breaking down barriers, it simply tip toes around them. Ultimately misleading, frustrating and full of stereotypes. Irrespective it is a horrible film, with horrible characters. The only truth being it reflected the subservience of double standards of the times.

When elderly Jewish woman Daisy Werthan drives her car through the hedge, her son bans her from driving. Daisy is stubborn and insists on walking – even when Boolie hires black Hoke Colburn to drive her around. After some time of ignoring Hoke, Daisy finally starts riding in the back of the car and gradually settles into the routine. Despite a very frosty approach from Daisy, Hoke treats her with respect but also honesty. Over their 25 years together the two see many things change in America while their relationship develops past employee/employer. I have not seen this film since 1989 when it came out and was greeted with endless praise in the manner that all these sort of things are (worthy pictures). Watching it now, it must be said that it comes across as overly sentimental and far too glossy and idealistic to really stand up as a political message film or even anything more than a daytime TV semi-weepy. The plot takes huge leaps over the 25 year period it tries to cover and in some regards it doesn't totally manage to convince me of the time passing. The interactions between the two keep it all interesting but, as a piece of symbolism it just doesn't work any deeper than the surface. The sentimental gloss runs right through the film and the only thing that prevents it from being a daytime TV special is the cast. Tandy won an Oscar for her performance and, although I don't buy that, I still thought she was pretty good. She allows herself to be made fun of and cleverly puts her character's prejudices across while still convincing herself that she doesn't have any. Considering her material she does pretty well. Freeman is much better because his performance is right on the wire and it would have been easy for him to slip and ruin it. At times I thought he had lost it and had slipped into a black stereotype that brought Jar-Jar to mind, but he always held it together and give him character to overcome the possible cliché he could have been – not easy to do but Freeman does it. Aykroyd breaks through into straighter material with his performance here and he is good even if he has only a few scenes spread over the film. The rest of the support is good but the film it totally Tandy and Freeman's and they really do it well – managing to lift the material above the sentimental level that it could easily have settled at. Overall this is not a great film and certainly doesn't deserve the fame and reputation that the Oscar glory and the 'worthy' material have given it over time. The sentimental script and plotting is rather superficial and not as deep as it should have been, while the film skims over the years like a flat stone on a lake. Only the strong performances and easy chemistry between Tandy and Freeman saves the film from just being nothing more than a daytime TV soap.

"Driving Miss Daisy" is one of the nicest movies ever made. Winner of 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture of 1989, "Driving Miss Daisy" is about a black man who goes to work as a chauffeur for a stubborn old Jewish woman. Morgan Freeman and the late Jessica Tandy give brilliant performances in the lead roles, and they've never been better. I sure do miss seeing the presence of Tandy in the movies. She was good in just about everything she did in both feature and TV movies (her heart in acting always belonged to the stage). She very deservedly won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Miss Daisy, a person who at first is not happy about this man coming into her life but learns to accept it and forms a real special friendship. Freeman is every bit her match here as Hoke, the chauffeur. The exchanges between the two in the beginning are very funny and very touching at the end. Dan Aykroyd takes on a rare serious role in "Driving Miss Daisy" as Tandy's son Boolie, a businessman who hires Hoke to be Miss Daisy's driver. And the late Esther Rolle (of TV's "Good Times" and "Maude") has a nice small part as Miss Daisy's maid. When this movie came out in late 1989 it was guaranteed many Oscar nominations. Then the nominations came out in February 1990 and "Driving Miss Daisy" got the most with 9 nominations. But one nomination was missing: Best Director. And what a gyp that was! Bruce Beresford did a terrific job of directing "Driving Miss Daisy" and to this day I will never understand why the Academy didn't nominate him. The Academy voters for the Best Director category got stupid that year and Beresford was omitted unfairly. This is a terrific movie and the director should have been nominated. Richard Zanuck, one of the producers of "Driving Miss Daisy", said something in March 1990 when accepting the Best Picture Oscar for this movie along with the other producer and real-life wife Lili Fini Zanuck that I completely agree with. He said quote: "Were up here for one very simple reason and that's the fact that Bruce Beresford is a brilliant director. It's as simple as that!" And "Driving Miss Daisy" is proof. It's a great movie. **** (out of four)

Driving Miss Daisy_720p(480P)

source: Driving Miss Daisy

Moviecut—Driving Miss Daisy

Driving Miss Daisy